Holistic Health and Chiropractic: Roots, Development, and Current Scenario

This report examines the roots, development, and current use of holistic health practice, chiropractic, and discusses its contribution to research and wellbeing. It explores the historical roots of chiropractic, its development over the years, and its current scenario in various countries. The report also highlights the research trials conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of chiropractic in managing chronic pain and improving overall health and wellbeing.

Running head: HEALTH STUDIES
Report
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1HEALTH STUDIES
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Rationale....................................................................................................................................2
Historical roots...........................................................................................................................4
Development..............................................................................................................................5
Current scenario.........................................................................................................................6
Contribution to research and wellbeing.....................................................................................7
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................8
References..................................................................................................................................9

2HEALTH STUDIES
Introduction
Holistic health is an umbrella term that is based on the evidence that optimum health
is not founded upon the mere absenteeism of any illness or disease, rather on the living
equilibrium of the “complete” person. The body, mind, emotions, and spirit are united and
attached. In relation to holistic health, there remains a faith that the body is comprised of an
energy system, which in turn acts as the major form of life and support for the physique
(Köteles and Simor 2014). Furthermore, problem in one part of the body makes it non-
functional that directly affects other body parts. According to the American Holistic Health
Association (AHHA), the term holistic health relies on the fact that the human body is a
comprehensive assembly of parts that are interdependent (Walter 2018). Consequently,
persons also have an accountability for complete health and are responsible for adorning the
role of an active participant in their methods towards regular wellness and treatment for
maintaining balance in the body. This report will examine the roots, development and current
use of a holistic health practice, chiropractic and will also discuss its contribution to research
and wellbeing.
Rationale
Alternative medicine refers to the use of medical practice that comprises of all kinds
of healing practices that are not categorized under the dominion of conventional and
traditional medicine. Some of the most commonly administered alternative medicine
therapies are chiropractic, naturopathy, traditional Chinese medicine, yoga, hypnosis,
acupuncture, biofeedback, and diet-based therapies (Yadav et al. 2014). In other words,
alternative medicine can be defined as forms of medical practice, which is considered to
possess the healing properties of medicine, nonetheless not being grounded on information
assembled from scientific methods. Alternative medical therapies are categorised into

3HEALTH STUDIES
different classes namely, (i) energy medicine, (ii) use of biologically based practices, (iii)
body-based and manipulative techniques, and (iv) mind-body medicine. According to Fischer
et al. (2014) chiropractic is a type of alternative medicine that is primary concerned with the
evaluation and treatment of a plethora of mechanical disorders that affect the musculoskeletal
system, typically the spine. In other words, chiropractic care focuses on the use of hands-on
spine manipulation and alternative therapies that aim to address the poor alignment of the
musculoskeletal structure of the human body. Manipulation in chiropractic practice helps in
restoration of mobility of the joints that are restricted due to injury to the tissues, which can
be accredited to some traumatic event. Events that are primarily responsible for such injury to
the spine can be accredited to repetitive stress, falling, and sitting in the absence of adequate
back support (Hedlund et al. 2014).
Furthermore, chiropractic is also used in the form of pain relief alternative for joints,
muscles, connective tissue such as, ligaments, tendons, and cartilages. The primary reason for
the implementation of chiropractic care can be accredited to the fact that it is effective and
safe for the management of acute low back pain. Furthermore, use of this therapy can be
associated with the emphasis it places on conservative management of the musculoskeletal
system, without the need of any surgery or medicine (Peregoy et al. 2014). Although the
specialities of chiropractic are back and neck pain, several other musculoskeletal issues are
also treated with the condition. The topic has been selected for discussion in this report due to
the primary health benefits that it offers. In comparison to several medical treatments,
chiropractic has also proved effective in the treatment of sciatica, when compared to physical
therapy. Furthermore, the practice has also proved beneficial in reducing symptoms of colic
disease and acid reflux (Church et al. 2016). Additionally, there is little evidence for the role
of the alternative medicine in treatment of ailments such as, ear infection amid children.

4HEALTH STUDIES
Existing evidences for the success rate of chiropractic in ensuring optimal health founded its
selection for the assignment.
Historical roots
The history of chiropractic dates back to 1895, when the first adjustment was
performed by Daniel David Palmer on a janitor Harvey Lillard, who was partially deaf. While
the janitor bent over for emptying the trash bin, his vertebra was found to be out of its actual
position. The treatment comprised of making the patient lie with his face down on floor,
followed by adjustment of the vertebra. Senzon (2018) affirmed that the word “chiropractic”
was coined by Rev. Samel Weed and has Greek origin. The early philosophy of this form of
alternative medicine had its roots in naturalism, vitalism, spiritualism, magnetism, and other
concepts that were not agreeable to the methodical method, although efforts were taken by
Palmer for merging metaphysics and science. The initial descriptions and fundamental
philosophy of chiropractic were further explained in 1896, by Andrew Still's and his
principles of osteopathy. Both the techniques labelled the human body as a machine, the parts
of which could be operated with the aim of producing some kind of drugless therapy.
Furthermore, the processes also declared the usage of spinal management on joint
subluxation/dysfunction for improving health. Palmer distinguished the method by being the
first person to use short-lever HVLA manipulative methods, via the spinous and transverse
processes, in the form of mechanical levers (Folk 2017). The year 1907 was marked by an
event, in relation to the new law on osteopathy, where a Wisconsin based chiropractor had
been accused of delivering osteopathic medicine lacking a proper license.
This concept of medicine practice, in absence of a license resulted in the jail of
chiropractors, counting in D.D. Palmer. During the prolonged fight for licensure of
chiropractic in California, Palmer wrote of his viewpoint on chiropractic in 1911, and also
provided an indication for his plan, related to the legal protection of chiropractic.

5HEALTH STUDIES
Development
B.J. Palmer, son and student of D.D. Palmer, took charge of the Palmer School in the
year 1906, and began his work for the promotion of formal training, expertise, and
professionalism in chiropractic practice, by expanding enrolment of students to as high as
1,000 pupils in the initial 1920s. Some of the well-known chiropractic leaders were involved
in summoning religious descriptions in practice, followed by the serious consideration of B.J.
in announcing chiropractic as a faith. Nonetheless, he partly decided against this, in order to
evade all forms of misperception with Christian Science. B.J. Palmer also worked to
overcome the initial resistance of this domain of alternative medicine, in relation to the
application of medical technology, with the acceptance of diagnostic equipment such as,
spinal X-rays, commonly referred to as spinography, in 1910 (Tangwa 2017). This was
followed by the Era of Persecution when Dr Morris Fishbein was branded as "Medical
Mussolini" and labelled as the most significant non-chiropractor to affect the chiropractic
occupation owing to his responsibility of beginning the unceremonious medical movement
against chiropractors and also arranged the anti-chiropractic campaign by American Medical
Association's (AMA) for more than fifty years. This was followed by the enforcement of the
Iowa Plan and the Committee on Quackery.
The former had the overall objective of containing and ultimately eliminating the
trendy of chiropractic being considered as a health threat in the United States. This was
concomitant with the abundance of chiropractic training organisations and schools, in
contrast to fewer medical schools (Rome 2017). The funded Committee on Quackery was
grounded on three domains namely, (i) ethics dependent boycott for AMA members having
professional transactions with chiropractors, (ii) inclusive political movement to spoil
chiropractic progress, and (iii) convincing other establishments for adopting anti-chiropractic
policy (Young 2014). This was followed by the Era of Legitimation where several inquiries

6HEALTH STUDIES
were made in this alternative medicine practice and all chiropractors were considered to be
well placed to treat musculoskeletal disorders, besides identifying the need of improving
chiropractic education.
Current scenario
According to data published by the World Health Organization (2018), the principal
numbers of chiropractors are from the United States of America (75000), Australia (4250),
United Kingdom (3,000), and Canada (7250). These are among the first nations that
established chiropractic schools. Some other nations having chiropractors are New Zealand
(400), Denmark (550), Brazil (700), France (450), Sweden (400), Japan (400), Italy (400), the
Netherlands (400), Norway (600), Spain (300), Switzerland (275), and South Africa (400).
There exists universal legislation for recognising and regulating chiropractic practice in 48
nations, usually on a countrywide basis such as, Switzerland, Canada, and the USA.
In recent years, musculoskeletal disorders are considered as the primary cause of
disability and pain on a global basis (Storheim and Zwart 2014). This cause accounts for the
second most number of visits to general medical practitioners and is also responsible for a
large increase in health care associated expenditure. Current alternative medicine practice
finds chiropractic in combination with mainstream medical therapies and are also put into use
by different governmental medical organisations (Strahinjevich and Simpson 2018). During
implementation, it has been found to overlap with a range of manual therapy techniques such
as, osteopathy, massage therapy, sports medicine, and physical therapy. Hence, this
autonomous and competitive medicine is an integral part of the current medical scenario.
Contribution to research and wellbeing
Several research trials have been conducted in recent years to demonstrate the
effectiveness of the practice to health and wellbeing. Systematic review of literature have

7HEALTH STUDIES
provided an insight into the use of chiropractic for the management and effective treatment of
chronic pain in the neck, with therapies that focus on strengthening, stretching and endurance
based exercises (Bryans et al. 2014). This is in accordance to results from another cohort
study where maximum patients subjected to chiropractic were found to demonstrate clinically
pertinent health enhancement at 1, 3 and 6 months, with 80% patients suffering from neck
pain, reporting dizziness and 78% patients deprived of dizziness showing momentous
improvement at the end of 6 months of the therapy. This led to the establishment of the fact
that manual chiropractic therapy such as, spinal management is an operative method in the
treatment of cervicogenic dizziness, by the restoration of usual movement of zygoapophyseal
joints, thereby decreasing discomfort and muscle hypertonicity. This also facilitates the
restoration of typical biomechanical and proprioceptive working of the cervical spine
(Humphreys and Peterson 2013). A 1 year follow up study suggested that 52% of 115 low
back pain patients, who were subjected to chiropractic treatment, manifested improvement in
their condition after a week, with 70% improvement occurring after 1 month, 80% after three
months and 88% after a year. This was concomitant with noteworthy reductions in the
Oswestry and NRS scores (p < 0.0005). The findings provide adequate evidence for the
clinical significant improvement brought about by chiropractic treatment in most patients
suffering from musculoskeletal disorders (Peterson, Mühlemann and Humphreys 2014).
Further evidence for the use of this alternative medicine therapy in treating Lateral
Epicondylitis was illustrated by a case study by Gliedt and Daniels (2014) where a 48 year
old man having left lateral elbow pain was presented to a chiropractic health centre, followed
by five ART sessions applied to the tendons, ligaments, fascia, nerves, and muscles, over a
time period of three weeks. The patients was found to report little or no pain and was able to
constantly play 18 successive holes of golf, thrice each week, after the treatment, thus
manifesting positive functional response to the practice. Conduction of a pilot study by

8HEALTH STUDIES
Cambron et al. (2014) among patients diagnosed with Lumbar Spinal Stenosis suggested that
an estimated 60 randomised subjects met the adherence goals and no adverse events were
reported by them, thus confirming chiropractic as a feasible treatment option for patients with
LSS. However, findings from another review suggested lack of evidence for the efficacy of
chiropractic intervention, in the form of an opposite and alternative treatment for
management of insomnia or menopausal symptoms (Goto et al. 2014). Likewise, several
claims have been made by chiropractors regarding success of the intervention, without the
presence of adequate evidences, thus misleading the patient population (Hanna and
Honeychurch 2016).
Conclusion
To conclude, chiropractic refers to the health profession that places a due focus on the
spine and joints present in the human body, and their association with the nervous system.
Optimal health is attained with handling the reasons of the indications and illness – not just
lessening, veiling, or reducing the presenting complaints of a person. Therefore, holistic
health is found to rely on the essentials of functional medicine and is considered to be the
healthcare of the forthcoming generation. Hence, holistic treatment of the appearance of
symptoms is performed via the application of preventive and natural approaches. Moreover,
holistic health measures the health of a person in terms of a comprehensive positive condition
of being. The practitioners use different adjustment for restoring function of the body joints
and supporting the nervous system. This directly assists the patients in maintaining their
optimal health, while averting the need of using drugs, or opting for surgeries. Thus,
chiropractors take into account their clinical experience, scientific research and preferences or
demands of the patient for providing the best possible care to the service users.

9HEALTH STUDIES
References
Bryans, R., Decina, P., Descarreaux, M., Duranleau, M., Marcoux, H., Potter, B., Ruegg,
R.P., Shaw, L., Watkin, R. and White, E., 2014. Evidence-based guidelines for the
chiropractic treatment of adults with neck pain. Journal of manipulative and physiological
therapeutics, 37(1), pp.42-63.
Cambron, J.A., Schneider, M., Dexheimer, J.M., Iannelli, G., Chang, M., Terhorst, L. and
Cramer, G.D., 2014. A pilot randomized controlled trial of flexion-distraction dosage for
chiropractic treatment of lumbar spinal stenosis. Journal of manipulative and physiological
therapeutics, 37(6), pp.396-406.
Church, E.W., Sieg, E.P., Zalatimo, O., Hussain, N.S., Glantz, M. and Harbaugh, R.E., 2016.
Systematic review and meta-analysis of chiropractic care and cervical artery dissection: no
evidence for causation. Cureus, 8(2).
Fischer, F.H., Lewith, G., Witt, C.M., Linde, K., von Ammon, K., Cardini, F., Falkenberg, T.,
Fønnebø, V., Johannessen, H., Reiter, B. and Uehleke, B., 2014. High prevalence but limited
evidence in complementary and alternative medicine: guidelines for future research. BMC
complementary and alternative medicine, 14(1), p.46.
Folk, H., 2017. The Religion of Chiropractic: Populist Healing from the American
Heartland. UNC Press Books.
Gliedt, J.A. and Daniels, C.J., 2014. Chiropractic treatment of lateral epicondylitis: a case
report utilizing active release techniques. Journal of chiropractic medicine, 13(2), pp.104-
109.
Goto, V., Frange, C., Andersen, M.L., Júnior, J.M., Tufik, S. and Hachul, H., 2014.
Chiropractic intervention in the treatment of postmenopausal climacteric symptoms and
insomnia: A review. Maturitas, 78(1), pp.3-7.

10HEALTH STUDIES
Hanna, M. and Honeychurch, M., 2016. Chronic misleading online advertising by
chiropractors. The New Zealand Medical Journal (Online), 129(1432), p.91.
Hedlund, S., Nilsson, H., Lenz, M. and Sundberg, T., 2014. Effect of chiropractic
manipulation on vertical jump height in young female athletes with talocrural joint
dysfunction: a single-blind randomized clinical pilot trial. Journal of manipulative and
physiological therapeutics, 37(2), pp.116-123.
Humphreys, B.K. and Peterson, C., 2013. Comparison of outcomes in neck pain patients with
and without dizziness undergoing chiropractic treatment: a prospective cohort study with 6
month follow-up. Chiropractic & manual therapies, 21(1), p.3.
Köteles, F. and Simor, P., 2014. Somatic symptoms and holistic thinking as major
dimensions behind modern health worries. International journal of behavioral
medicine, 21(5), pp.869-876.
Peregoy, J.A., Clarke, T.C., Jones, L.I., Stussman, B.J. and Nahin, R.L., 2014. Regional
variation in use of complementary health approaches by US adults. NCHS data brief, (146),
p.1.
Peterson, C.K., Mühlemann, D. and Humphreys, B.K., 2014. Outcomes of pregnant patients
with low back pain undergoing chiropractic treatment: a prospective cohort study with short
term, medium term and 1 year follow-up. Chiropractic & manual therapies, 22(1), p.15.
Rome, P.L., 2017. Similarities between the chiropractic situation in Australia and the Iowa
plan. Chiropractic Journal of Australia, 45(1).
Senzon, S.A., 2018. An integral approach to unifying the philosophy of chiropractic. Journal
of Conscious Evolution, 2(2), p.10.

11HEALTH STUDIES
Storheim, K. and Zwart, J.A., 2014. Musculoskeletal disorders and the Global Burden of
Disease study. Retrieved from https://ard.bmj.com/content/annrheumdis/73/6/949.full.pdf
Strahinjevich, B. and Simpson, J.K., 2018. The schism in chiropractic through the eyes of a
1st year chiropractic student. Chiropractic & manual therapies, 26(1), p.2.
Tangwa, G.B., 2017. Traditional medicine. Encyclopedia of global bioethics, pp.1-8.
Walter, S., 2018. Holistic Health. Available from https://ahha.org/selfhelp-articles/holistic-
health/ Accessed on 01 January 2019.
World Health Organization., 2018. WHO guidelines on basic training and safety in
chiropractic. Available from https://www.who.int/medicines/areas/traditional/Chiro-
Guidelines.pdf/ Accessed on 01 January 2019.
Yadav, V., Bever, C., Bowen, J., Bowling, A., Weinstock-Guttman, B., Cameron, M.,
Bourdette, D., Gronseth, G.S. and Narayanaswami, P., 2014. Summary of evidence-based
guideline: complementary and alternative medicine in multiple sclerosis report of the
guideline development subcommittee of the American Academy of
Neurology. Neurology, 82(12), pp.1083-1092.
Young, J.H., 2014. American Health Quackery: Collected Essays of James Harvey
Young (Vol. 134). Princeton University Press.